B1

I usually use the GO bus to York Mills but the service has now been reduced to once an hour, at best, and I missed it by five minutes. So there was a TTC bus waiting at the same stop. So I decided to get to Lawrence Station on the Yonge line - the driver encouraged my experiment. I had some luggage so I sat in the seat all the way at the back. So - it is a single fare and it makes a stop about every other block. The route follows Dixon Road to Lawrence and crosses the Eglinton bus at Jane. It covers a part of Toronto I have never paid attention to so there is a certain tourist value for those who want to see what amounts to a collection of Soviet-style high rises and the world's ugliest Wal-Mart. The route ends at Lawrence West Station (there is a large traffic jam with the exiting expressway traffic). You can get on the Spadina Line subway here. I chose to get on the Lawrence West 52 and continue to Yonge, which took about 20 minutes and made fewer stops. The total time from YYZ T1 to Lawrence Station was just over an hour and the cost was one token. I continued on another bus from there but that is not of general interest. Summary: this requires patience and no urgency with minimal luggage. The 58 seems to run every few minutes so it beats hanging out for a long time in the dreadful area of T1 reserved for users of public transit. The 192 Rocket is also there and if the Bloor subway is of use to you, it's of course a better choice. The York Mills GO bus provides service that is much less frequent than is sensible. Also, if you decide to use the TTC trip planner, you will be fed a stream of hilarious mis-information about your trip. For starters, the thing believes everything is in Scarborough and it gets worse as you try to correct it. Google maps suggest going to Richmond Hill on the GO bus and working your way south form there. It's all bizarre. The general reaction to my trip report in person has been to tell me to take a cab next time.

tentseller

TTC = Take The Car.

PropWasher

It's the "local" which has been once an hour for ever.

Antonio8069

Kudos to you for taking the 58! I did it once to the airport and it was a blast!

One fact you did not mention is that area of Toronto is undoubtedly the most ethnically diverse areas of the city, and the mix of passengers changes constantly on the route!

longwaybackhome

I'm scheduled to go back to Toronto for my friend's birthday in April. I'm flying Porter.

Though I don't mind the 192 THAT much.

simba8

Im curious to know how long the trip took..80 minutes?

B1

Yes - allow an hour on the 58 and 20 minutes on the 52. Indeed The trick is to relax and enjoy the ride - the driver is in no hurry as the TTC pays by the hour.

B1

A few years ago it was more frequent but when PWT owned the route it was faster and more frequent but more expensive. Once-an-hour service shows that GO has no interest in providing Toronto residents with the airport service it acquired.

simba8

I only take the ttc for work, and i know all about those frequent stops
I cant imagine taking luggage on the bus.

Still, I'm surprised that there isnt an express ttc bus available.
There are of course those coach buses that go downtown.

longwaybackhome

I've taken luggage on the bus multiple times before, and I'm still alive. I also took luggage on the bus from YUL to downtown a few weeks ago, an act that Anthony Bourdain described as "as much fun as getting a back rub from a rabid bonobo." I usually stay at the Courtyard at Yonge and College, which on public transit is 192 ---> Bloor/Danforth Line ---> two stops south on the Yonge/University/Spadina line to College. Three trips to TO ago, I ended up with major issues with my bags at Bloor/Yonge.

And again, on my next trip in April, I'm flying Porter.

simba8

I guess it depends on the day and the time.
Weekends, and mid day, evenings= sure. Rush hour ..forget it.

cdn1

Going to Richmond Hill Centre from airport on the GO Transit bus and then switching to Viva/York Region Transit would get you to Finch Station, and that involves 2 fares..........not to mention the 3rd fare of paying TTC fare when going into the subway........

Keep that in mind, its better off to use the GO to Yorkdale/York Mills and then TTC......... (saving the Viva/YRT fare), or just jump on TTC at the airport and save the GO fare too! Its just the journey is a little slow on TTC

GO was also running the Square1 portion from the Airport but the govt decided to scrap it, just when it was picking up revenue (getting busy), it was a silly move as people would get to all areas from square one on GO service......

A lack of visionaries is quite apparent...

tentseller

Lack of inter-regional coordination.

You got TTC, GO, YRT Viva, Miss transit, Zum and everyone trying to see who can lose the taxpayer the most money.

Connecting TTC to Airport or Rail-link to downtown does not look at the need of York region, Mississauga/Bramption and other points east(Scarborough/Durham) and west (Oakville).

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford have some good idea. Blow up all these little transit authorities and have one big regional operation.
Look how efficient Hong Kong and Singapore transit are operated.

PropWasher

What are you talking about? PWT?

GO bus service in and out of YYZ (York Mills - Brampton) has been hourly seven days a week, 365 days a year, since... I don't know.

Now, you might find an extra bus or two at peak periods, and you might not find a bus early sunday mornning, but the basic schedule hasn't changed in at least 25 years.

B1

PWT (Airport Express) had the franchise to run from York Mills and Yorkdale to YYZ under the same terms as their downtown service. The fare was about about the same as going to downtown and ran frequently. I think that the TTC ran it as Gray Coach before that. When PWT abandoned the route GO took over the rights but did not provide the level of service. I believe that the GTAA gives GO a subsidy (or at least they used to). From http://transit.toronto.on.ca/subway/5105.shtml "York Mills station also became the site of a GO Transit/Gray Coach bus terminal, serving bus routes running east and west via the 401 as well as an express bus to Pearson Airport. Gray Coach would eventually become Greyhound, and its service to York Mills station evaporated (with the Airport Express disappearing in the year 2000, with the company upset at the TTC’s competition with the service)." That's the route that was run for a while by PWT. Anyway, GO does the absolute minimal service on what should be a well-used run with the Malton 58 as very poor alternative.